Pokerfuse Latest Articles

PokerStars, bwin.party, 888, Ladbrokes Confirm Spanish Online Poker Licenses

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:53:58 +0000

Law and Regulation: Major players among 15 operators to confirm receipt of an online poker license; Rooms will go live on the morning of Tuesday, June 5.

Spain has begun to issue its first online gaming licenses today. Although no official list has been produced by the Spanish Gambling Commission (DGOJ), various public and private companies have confirmed receipt of licenses.

PokerStars confirmed it has received a license to operate poker in Spain. In a press statement issued to pokerfuse, it stated it “plans to launch PokerStars.es on June 5th. For now, Spanish players can continue to compete on www.pokerstars.com as normal and don’t need to take any action.”

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Time Expires for Illinois Online Poker Bill

news@pokerfuse.com (Haley Hintze) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:46:50 +0000

Law and Regulation:

An ongoing proposal to establish an intrastate online poker network serving Illinois residents died a procedural death on Tuesday after being quietly tabled, despite strong legislative support.

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Spanish Saga Continues: Players to Lose VIP Points as Sites Blocked from Transferring Accounts

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Thu, 31 May 2012 23:22:34 +0000

Law and Regulation: A last minute “clarification” from the Spanish regulator: Existing operators cannot transfer player accounts nor their balances, VIP points or statuses from dot.com to new dot.ES platforms.

Operators already serving Spanish customers will not be able to transfer accounts over to the new dot.ES platform when they go live on June 5, according to a last minute statement from the Spanish Gambling Commission (DGOJ).

The surprise “clarification,” published on the Government Treasury website late Thursday, states categorically that neither player accounts nor balances can be transitioned over on behalf of the player. Furthermore, accounts cannot be tagged to original affiliates.

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Online Gambling in New Jersey "May Have to Wait Until Fall."

news@pokerfuse.com (Michael Gentile) — Thu, 31 May 2012 22:32:49 +0000

Law and Regulation:

State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak has stated that, though he would like to get an online gambling bill on Governor Christie’s desk by the end of June, it will be difficult to accomplish without the support of the Governor.

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Loss of Player Funds "Expected" as Purple Lounge Liquidated

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:22:29 +0000

Law and Regulation: All staff laid off, business liquidated and player losses are expected as Media Corp admits to “historical operational financial failings” at Purple Lounge.

Media Corp PLC announced today that its Purple Lounge division is entering liquidation. All staff have been laid off and the loss of player funds is “expected.”

Media Corp’s Chairman Phil Jackson and intrim CEO Adam Fraser-Harris, newly appointed following its acquisition of Intabet, discovered “historic operational and financial failings” in Purple Lounge.

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Blurring the Boundaries: Rocketfrog Launches Poker with Prizes on Facebook

news@pokerfuse.com (Jocelyn Wood) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:42:13 +0000

In-Depth Feature: New social gaming platform looks to offer gambling to Facebook users “who could not fathom the idea of playing for nothing.”

RocketFrog has launched a poker and casino application on Facebook that awards real prizes. Advertisers sponsor poker tournaments and put up rewards such as gift cards to create a prize pool. There is no entry fee to play: aAl tournaments are free.

RocketFrog is following in the footsteps of Zynga Poker, the most successful gaming site on Facebook with $292.8m of online gaming revenue reported in the first three months of 2012. 28 million people globally play Zynga Poker monthly and they do so even though there are no real prizes on offer. RocketFrog’s business model is designed to induce even more people to play.

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Dutch Players Moved to PokerStars.EU

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:31:50 +0000

Law and Regulation:

PokerStars has moved players from the Netherlands on to their dot.EU poker room, according to multiple player reports today.

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PokerStars Tweaks Rake, VIP Bonus Structure

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:37:29 +0000

Poker Room News:

Fixed limit rake has been slightly reduced and FPP bonuses made more attainable on PokerStars according to a statement today by Lee Jones, “Home Games” Manager at the online poker room.

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Spanish Poker Rooms Delayed Until June 5

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:31:33 +0000

Law and Regulation:

It was apparently tempting fate when just yesterday pokerfuse reported that, “it appears that—for real this time—the first licenses will be issued on June 1.”

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New Additions to the Podcast Directory: This Week in Poker Podcasts

news@pokerfuse.com (Michael Gentile) — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:39:44 +0000

Week in Podcasts:

It’s been a month since I last brought you a review of poker podcasts. Whether busy, lazy or otherwise, I am glad to be back telling all of you about the great selection of poker podcasts available in our directory.

Since my last review we have added a couple of new shows: one of which is The Itsawinner Poker Podcast. Itsawinner is based in the UK and has a very different feel than most of the other selections in the directory. Hosted by Mal255 and GDog1966, the show is down to earth, has a strong community vibe and is both entertaining and informative.

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Online Poker in Spain: Who's In?

news@pokerfuse.com (Nick Jones) — Mon, 28 May 2012 17:51:53 +0000

In-Depth Feature: With the last-minute back-tax payments, settlements and rumor, which of the major poker rooms and networks can we expect to have a presence in Spain soon?

When we first covered the applicants for Spanish gaming licenses (you can read some back story in our special series of articles on Spain) it was understood that somewhere between 40 and 60 operators had applied for a license to operate in a regulated Spanish market that was, at the time, expected to go live on January 1.

But things have changed. Licenses were delayed, the moratorium permitting unlicensed operators was extended until June 30, and a political upheaval in the country opened up the possibility of more meddling. It appears that—for real this time—the first licenses will be issued on June 1. This signals the end of the moratorium, so any operator without a license will need to stop accepting bets from Spanish customers.

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Merge Counters Lock Departure with Return of 35% Rakeback

news@pokerfuse.com (Chris Philips) — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:06:56 +0000

Poker Room News: The gloves come off: Skins of the Merge Gaming Network to return to 35% rakeback on the same day Cake rebrands to Revolution … and ups rakeback to 36%.

The Merge Gaming Network is bringing back its rakeback program starting June 1, the same day that Lock Poker is set to move to a rebranded Cake Poker Network.

The decision to allow rakeback comes one year to the day that it stopped offering rakeback on new accounts and switched to a frequent player points system. Rakeback will return to 35%, just as it was originally.

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